Napsterhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/napster
en-usThu, 22 Feb 2018 00:30:21 -0500Thu, 22 Feb 2018 00:30:21 -0500The latest news on Napster from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/prince-spotify-apple-music-streaming-2017-2Prince's music will soon be back on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming serviceshttp://www.businessinsider.com/prince-spotify-apple-music-streaming-2017-2
Fri, 10 Feb 2017 10:43:31 -0500Todd Spangler
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/582f22f1e02ba735318b4e6d-1752/prince in concert.jpg" alt="Prince in concert" data-mce-source="Kristian Dowling/Getty Images" /></p><p>Songs of late music legend <a href="http://variety.com/t/prince/" data-tag="prince">Prince</a> will again be available on multiple streaming-music services on Sunday, in releases timed for the 59th Grammy Awards.</p>
<p>The Purple One&rsquo;s Warner Music catalog, including the albums &ldquo;Purple Rain,&rdquo; &ldquo;1999&rdquo; and &ldquo;Sign O&rsquo; the Times,&rdquo; will be available Feb. 12 on subscription-streaming services including <a href="http://variety.com/t/spotify/" data-tag="spotify">Spotify</a>, <a href="http://variety.com/t/apple-music/" data-tag="apple-music">Apple Music</a>, Amazon, Napster and iHeartRadio, according to multiple reports.</p>
<p>The expanded streaming deals come after the mercurial artist <a href="http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/prince-spotify-apple-music-streaming-1201533100/" rel="nofollow">in 2015 pulled his music from all streaming services</a> &mdash; with the exception of <a href="http://variety.com/t/tidal/" data-tag="tidal">Tidal</a>, the Jay Z-led company that has pledged friendlier terms to musicians. Prince, who had contentious relationships with music labels, distributors and internet companies, had personally promoted Tidal including in <a href="http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/prince-tidal-streaming-1201758524/" rel="nofollow">the days just before his death</a>.</p>
<p>But in November, <a href="http://variety.com/2016/music/news/prince-sues-jay-z-streaming-rights-tidal-1201919656/" rel="nofollow">Prince&rsquo;s estate sued Jay Z&rsquo;s Roc Nation</a>,&nbsp;alleging Tidal of copyright infringement by continuing to stream songs from his back catalog (a charge that Roc Nation and Tidal have disputed). That same month, the artist&rsquo;s estate inked a music-publishing management deal with Universal Music Publishing to expand distribution for Prince&rsquo;s works.</p>
<p><span>Prince &mdash;&nbsp;along with pop-star George Michael, who died on Christmas Day last year &mdash; will be honored with a </span><a href="http://variety.com/2017/music/news/grammys-prince-george-michael-lady-gaga-david-bowie-1201981771/" rel="nofollow">special tribute at the Grammys</a><span>. The kudocast, hosted by James Corden, will air on CBS Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.</span></p>
<p><span><em>Variety</em><span> has confirmed that iHeartRadio will be among those adding Prince&rsquo;s song catalog to its services Sunday, when the service will turn itself purple to honor the artist. In addition, it is launching an original &ldquo;iHeartPrince&rdquo; radio station (available to both subscribers and non-subscribers) that will feature programming on&nbsp;how Prince influenced today&rsquo;s top performers and include interview segments with Prince talking about his music and career.</span></span></p>
<p>Spotify, meanwhile, last week placed purple-hued ads in New York City&rsquo;s Union Square subway station with only the service&rsquo;s logo, per a <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7670038/prince-purple-spotify-billboards-streaming-grammy-night" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Billboard</a>&nbsp;report. Currently, the only Prince tune on Spotify is the 2015 single &ldquo;Stare,&rdquo; from his final studio album, &ldquo;Hit n Run Phase Two.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://variety.com/2016/music/news/prince-dead-dies-1201758325/" rel="nofollow">Prince died at 57 on April 21, 2016</a>. He was found dead in his Paisley Park estate outside of Minneapolis in what was ruled an <a href="http://variety.com/2016/music/news/prince-dead-overdose-1201787549/" rel="nofollow">accidental overdose of Fentanyl</a>, a synthetic opioid pain medication.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/minnesota-prince-law-2016-5" >A new law in honor of Prince would make it harder to earn money off dead people's names</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tracy-morgan-kicked-out-of-princes-house-2016-4" >Tracy Morgan remembers the time he got thrown out of a party at Prince's house</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/prince-spotify-apple-music-streaming-2017-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/purple-rain-made-prince-a-superstar-2016-4">Here's the moment that made Prince a superstar</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/napster-myspace-where-are-they-now-2016-7Napster is back! Here's what happened to 4 other apps that faded into oblivionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/napster-myspace-where-are-they-now-2016-7
Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:25:00 -0400Samantha Cooney
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/57893801dd089569288b493b-975/napster.jpg" alt="napster" data-mce-source="Napster | Rhapsody" data-link="http://news.rhapsody.com/2016/07/14/wearenapster/" /></p><p></p>
<p>Napster is now available on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/napster-rhapsody-music/id584557117?mt=8" target="_blank">the App Store</a>.</p>
<p>You may remember Napster as the vintage music&nbsp;sharing service that <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/sean-parker-institute-for-cancer-immunotherapy-2016-4" target="_blank">made 15-year-old Sean Parker a Silicon Valley</a>&nbsp;star when he founded it in 1999.&nbsp;Napster had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/24/napster-music-free-file-sharing" target="_blank">57 million users</a> at its peak, but the service was&nbsp;ultimately brought down by a number of lawsuits from the music industry, which&nbsp;objected to&nbsp;Napster making&nbsp;their music available for free.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Napster remained a relic of Silicon Valley until this week when&nbsp;struggling music streaming service Rhapsody decided to bring&nbsp;Napster <a href="http://news.rhapsody.com/2016/07/14/wearenapster/" target="_blank"> back to life.</a>&nbsp;Rhapsody acquired Napster in 2011, but decided to take on its name now because it is better known globally, according to <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/14/11936974/rhapsody-rebrands-as-napster" target="_blank">the Verge</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>So what happened to other vintage internet companies that saw success and disappeared?</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/john-mccain-suggests-he-could-subpoena-apple-ceo-tim-cook-2016-7" >Sen. John McCain suggested he could subpoena Apple CEO Tim Cook</a></strong></p>
<h3>MySpace</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/57893801dd089569288b493f-400-300/myspace.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>When it went viral:&nbsp;</strong>MySpace launched in 2003, and quickly became the en vogue social media website. The company was acquired by Rupert Murdoch's giant media conglomerate <a href="http://startupbros.com/myspace-the-rise-fall-and-rise-again-infographic/" target="_blank">News Corp in July 2005 for $580 million</a>. At its peak in 2008, MySpace&nbsp;<a href="http://startupbros.com/myspace-the-rise-fall-and-rise-again-infographic/" target="_blank">had 79.5 million users a month</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/fox-interactive-turns-annual-profit-myspace-revenue-to-top-800-million-in-fiscal-2008/5899" target="_blank">generated $800 million in revenue</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Where is it now?&nbsp;</strong>A little site called Facebook came along, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/former-myspace-ceo-explains-why-facebook-was-able-to-dominate-social-media-despite-coming-second-2015-5" target="_blank">rendered&nbsp;MySpace irrelevant</a>. Justin Timberlake (who, ironically, played Napster founder Sean Parker in "The Social Network," David Fincher's film about Facebook) and Viant&nbsp;purchased MySpace in 2011 for $35 million, and attempted to rebrand the site&nbsp;as a<a href="http://www.brockpress.com/2015/11/myspace-attempts-to-rebrand-and-return-to-prominence/" target="_blank">&nbsp;music</a>&nbsp;company that would help up-and-coming artists get discovered.</p>
<p>In 2013, MySpace launched an app. In January 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported that MySpace <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/2015/01/14/myspace-still-reaches-50-million-people-each-month/" target="_blank">still got 50 million monthly users</a>. And in February 2016, Time Inc.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/time-inc-acquires-myspace-viant-2016-2" target="_blank"> acquired MySpace and its parent company</a>&nbsp;for their data assets.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;There were a lot of chuckles about that," Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp <a href="http://www.businessinsider.my/time-inc-ceo-joe-ripp-cannes-interview-myspace-viant-website-music-valuations-2016-6/#ADsVlCtl8J1QrYFj.97" target="_blank">told Business Insider </a>about the MySpace acquisition in June.&nbsp;&ldquo;Quite frankly, I hadn&rsquo;t even gone to the MySpace website before we bought the company, but after going there, it&rsquo;s a pretty good website, and music is pretty interesting.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Peach</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57893801dd089569288b4940-400-300/peach.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>When it went viral: <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/how-to-use-the-hot-new-peach-app-2016-1" target="_blank">Peach</a></strong>, founded by Vine founder Dom Hoffman, was a simple messaging app that allowed users to send messages, photos, and GIFs. On a Friday afternoon this past&nbsp;January, the app went viral on social media and peaked at No. 85 on Apple's downloaded apps chart. But&nbsp;two days later, BGR <a href="http://bgr.com/2016/01/11/peach-messaging-app-iphone-collapse/" target="_blank">declared that</a> Peach's moment in the sun was over and the app was basically dead.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Where is it now?&nbsp;</strong>Peach isn't technically dead. You can still download it on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peach-share-vividly/id1067891186?mt=8" target="_blank">the App Store</a>, and the app was last updated on July 3. But Byte, the Hoffman-led company behind Peach,&nbsp;doesn't seem keen for&nbsp;attention right now.</p>
<p>Peach's Twitter&nbsp;account <a href="https://twitter.com/RVoronaCote/status/718230224463388675" target="_blank">last tweeted on April 7</a>. When Tech Insider sent an interview request to Peach, a spokesperson replied back: "<span>Very sorry, but we're not giving any interviews regarding </span><span>Peach</span><span> at the moment."</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Yo</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/57893801dd089569288b4941-400-300/yo.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>When it went viral:&nbsp;</strong>During the summer of 2014, an app called Yo rocketed to the top of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-inside-story-of-yo-there-isnt-actually-1-million-in-the-bank-2014-6" target="_blank">the App Store only a few weeks after launch</a>. The app was pretty simple: Users&nbsp;send the word "Yo" to a user, and then the users could send the word "Yo" back.&nbsp;Yes, that was it. Yo's founder <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-inside-story-of-yo-there-isnt-actually-1-million-in-the-bank-2014-6" target="_blank">admitted the app's concept was "stupid."</a>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Still, the app raised $1 million <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgregor/2014/06/19/app-raises-1m-in-funding-for-simply-sending-the-message-yo-back-and-forth/" target="_blank">in funding and went viral.</a>&nbsp;Its virality was extended by a public mocking in the media, but hype eventually died down.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Where is it now?</strong> Even after Yo's popularity drastically declined, the app's CEO told Business Insider in 2014&nbsp;that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-happened-to-7-million-app-yo-now-that-the-hype-has-died-2014-9" target="_blank">Yo was in it for the long haul</a>. He's sticking to&nbsp;that: The app is still available in the App Store and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yo./id834335592?mt=8" target="_blank">was last updated three days ago</a>, at the time of writing.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Yo app&nbsp;has added a handful&nbsp;of new features in recent months, including the ability to send GIFs, links, and&nbsp;photos within the app. It's also added poll functionality and an audio recording of the word "Yo" that users can send to their friends.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Yo is&nbsp;currently <a href="https://www.appannie.com/apps/ios/app/834335592/" target="_blank">ranked #945 in the list</a> of most downloaded apps, according to App Annie.</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/napster-myspace-where-are-they-now-2016-7#/#ello-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-napster-billionaire-sean-parker-just-invested-in-cancer-immunotherapy-2016-4Here's the reason why people including Napster billionaire Sean Parker are investing millions in this new type of cancer treatmenthttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-napster-billionaire-sean-parker-just-invested-in-cancer-immunotherapy-2016-4
Sat, 16 Apr 2016 17:00:00 -0400Lydia Ramsey
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/56c427282e526519008b7866-2065-1549/gettyimages-157769146.jpg" alt="sean parker" data-mce-source="Spencer Platt/Getty Images" /></p><p>Another big name has joined the research effort for a new kind of cancer treatment called immunotherapy, which uses the immune system to fight cancer cells. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Sean Parker, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-insane-life-of-facebook-billionaire-sean-parker-2015-7">internet billionaire</a> who co-founded Napster and is a former Facebook president, gave $250 million on Wednesday to launch&nbsp;the Parker Institute&nbsp;that will help with the&nbsp;research and development of cancer immunotherapy treatments.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Unlike <a href="http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/chemotherapy/whatitishowithelps/chemo-what-it-is-questions-about-chemo">chemotherapy</a>, which involves administering powerful drugs that kill both cancerous and healthy cells (most healthy cells can repair themselves), immunotherapies harness the power of the immune system to help it identify and knock out just the cancerous cells.</p>
<p>For example, using&nbsp;something called&nbsp;a PD-1 inhibitor &mdash; which goes after a type of protein called PD-1 that stops the immune system from fighting cancerous cells &mdash; immunotherapy effectively helps the immune system take its foot off the brakes. Others, like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-lung-cancer-vaccine-from-cuba-2015-5">cancer vaccines</a>, activate&nbsp;the immune system in other ways, pushing it to work harder against cancer cells.</p>
<h2>Cancer in the crosshairs</h2>
<p>In&nbsp;the past few months, many big names have started piling on initiatives with a particular focus in accelerating research in cancer immunotherapy.</p>
<p>For example,&nbsp;<strong>Vice President&nbsp;Joe Biden&nbsp;</strong>and the Obama administration have asked for a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-cancer-moonshot-is-misinformed-2016-1">$1 billion initiative</a> for a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-cancer-moonshot-is-misinformed-2016-1">"cancer moonshot"</a> which will in part focus on immunotherapy. <strong>Former New York mayor&nbsp;Michael Bloomberg&nbsp;</strong>and others <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-bloomberg-others-give-125-mln-for-immunotherapy-cancer-research-2016-3">pledged $125 million</a>&nbsp;to create a new immuno-oncology focused cancer institute at Johns Hopkins. And&nbsp;<strong>Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong,</strong>&nbsp;the CEO of NantWorks,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>set up a <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/01/14/cancer-moonshot-biden-soon-shiong/">Cancer MoonShot2020 coalition</a> that aims to bring together all the people developing immunotherapies&nbsp;to bridge research gaps. Pharmaceutical companies also have many types of these treatments already in clinical trials, and<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cancer-treatment-as-investment-2015-11">investors expect</a><span>&nbsp;many of them will&nbsp;generate billions in sales in the next couple of years.</span></p>
<p>Immunotherapy for cancer isn't particularly new,&nbsp;so why all the recent&nbsp;attention and investments?</p>
<p>Essentially, it comes down to the fact that&nbsp;we're finally getting to see the results.&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/">The Cancer Research Institute</a> (CRI), which has been exploring cancer immunotherapy since the 1950s, is one of the many partners that will be working with the Parker Institute.</p>
<p>"It&rsquo;s when you see the successes and durable responses," <a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/">Cancer Research Institute</a> CEO Jill O&rsquo;Donnell-Tormey told Business Insider. One clear example of this is former president Jimmy Carter, who has been <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-cancer-treatment-did-jimmy-carter-use-2016-3">cancer-free since December 2015</a>&nbsp;after having his&nbsp;melanoma treated in part with an immunotherapy called Keytruda.</p>
<p>While the&nbsp;results are promising, they&nbsp;still aren't perfect. Some recently approved drugs, take Keytruda, for example, only work about <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-cancer-treatment-did-jimmy-carter-use-2016-3">30% of the time</a>.&nbsp;<span>That's still better than the </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2737459/">average response rate</a><span> of chemotherapy treatments on their own in cases of metastatic melanoma.</span>&nbsp;Still,&nbsp;when they do work, these treatments appear&nbsp;able to ward off cancer longer than other other existing treatments like chemotherapy.</p>
<h2>What's&nbsp;within reach?</h2>
<p>CRI CEO O&rsquo;Donnell-Tormey said that right now, cancer immunotherapy researchers need to&nbsp;find&nbsp;specific antigens, or toxins that illicit a response by the immune system, to target. This will help ensure the immunotherapy works in every single person. And although immunotherapy has come along way in the past few years, it's still far from having cracked the code.</p>
<p>"It requires a lot of money, and there&nbsp;are&nbsp;no guarantees," said O&rsquo;Donnell-Tormey. "Many times we&rsquo;re funding only 10% of the research grants that come in."</p>
<p>Plus, it's hard to predict what will work and when it will work, so saying a certain amount of money will surely lead to a solution doesn't exactly cut it. &nbsp;"We&nbsp;can&rsquo;t say what the actual amount is that you really need to do it."</p>
<p>But in the meantime, having the momentum certainly doesn't hurt.</p><p><strong>RELATED:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-cancer-treatment-did-jimmy-carter-use-2016-3" >Jimmy Carter is no longer being treated for cancer — Here's why treatments like the one he used are suddenly gaining traction</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-biosimilars-mean-for-the-pharmaceutical-industry-2016-4" >New drugs that could save the US billions just got an approval that will change the face of Big Pharma</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-napster-billionaire-sean-parker-just-invested-in-cancer-immunotherapy-2016-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/benefits-of-regular-exercise-2018-1">What happens to your body when you start exercising regularly</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/5-vital-questions-for-sean-parker-on-his-cancer-funding-2016-4Here's what we should be asking about Sean Parker's plan to revolutionize cancer researchhttp://www.businessinsider.com/5-vital-questions-for-sean-parker-on-his-cancer-funding-2016-4
Wed, 13 Apr 2016 17:20:01 -0400Sharon Begley
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/570eb809dd0895fe5a8b4680-1800-1199/sean parker.jpg" alt="sean parker" data-mce-source="Miguel Villagran / Getty" /></p><p></p>
<p>Tech entrepreneur Sean Parker is just the latest big name to put up big money to fight cancer.</p>
<p>Parker,&nbsp;who helped found Facebook and Napster, <a href="http://parker.org/initiatives/immunotherapy" target="_blank">plans to spend</a> $250 million to build teams of researchers who aim to harness the immune system to attack cancer.</p>
<p>That&rsquo;s on top of the $100 million for cancer immunotherapy research <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/29/biden-hopkins-cancer-moonshot/" target="_blank">put up</a>&nbsp;by former New York City Mayor <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/01/26/bloomberg-public-health/" target="_blank">Michael Bloomberg</a> and clothing magnate Sidney Kimmel. Biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong has also assembled <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/01/11/cancer-coalition-combination-drugs/" target="_blank">a coalition</a> of rival drug companies to focus on immunotherapy. And the White House is proposing&nbsp;spending $755 million on a <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/01/12/biden-roadmap-cancer-moonshot/" target="_blank">cancer &ldquo;moonshot&rdquo;</a> led by Vice President Joe Biden.</p>
<p>So, will all that effort amount to anything? Here are five questions to keep in mind:</p>
<h3>Will the money make much difference?</h3>
<p>If money could cure cancer, we&rsquo;d be home free.</p>
<p>Still,&nbsp;extra funding is always welcome. Even eminent cancer researchers spend large fractions of their time applying for grants: Dr. Jedd Wolchok of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of six centers that will receive support from Parker, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cancer-parker-idUSKCN0XA07W" target="_blank">told Reuters</a>&nbsp;it takes 30 percent of his time. If he could spend&nbsp;more hours thinking about curing cancer and less looking for money, presumably he&rsquo;d make faster progress.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the National Cancer Institute will spend <a href="http://www.cancer.gov/about-nci/budget" target="_blank">$5.2 billion</a>&nbsp;on research this year, so even when you add all the private funding together, it still represents a bump of less than 10 percent. Each of the six research centers participating in the Parker initiative will get an initial infusion of $10 million to $15 million &mdash; not peanuts, but not necessarily a game changer, either.</p>
<h3>But aren&rsquo;t these new initiatives trying a new approach?</h3>
<p>Maybe.</p>
<p>They say they&rsquo;re supporting a new model of cancer research and they use a lot of MBA buzzwords to make that point: They talk about smashing silos, crunching data, and&nbsp;emphasizing&nbsp;translational research that moves discoveries from the lab bench to patients, not just curing a bunch of lab mice. Above all, they emphasize the power of collaboration.</p>
<p>Some battle-scarred veterans of the country&rsquo;s previous wars on cancer are holding their applause.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It is hardly obvious that infusing money into these labs in order to speed up their level of interaction and collaboration will markedly accelerate the pace of discovery, innovation, and the development of new forms of cancer immunotherapy,&rdquo; said cancer biologist Robert Weinberg of the&nbsp;Whitehead Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who has been in the research trenches for some 40 years.</p>
<p>Cancer biologists like those receiving funding from Parker&rsquo;s foundation &ldquo;already communicate and collaborate &mdash; and hardly need funds to incentivize research collaborations,&rdquo; Weinberg said. &ldquo;Self-respecting scientists [collaborate] all the time when collaborations offer actual synergies.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/570eb809dd0895fe5a8b4681-800-547/biden-says-democrats-will-like-iran-deal-when-they-understand-it-2015-7.jpg" alt="U.S. Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the U.S.-Ukraine Business Forum in Washington July 13, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="U.S. Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the U.S.-Ukraine Business Forum in Washington " /></p>
<h3>Is too much money chasing too little talent&nbsp;&mdash; or too few ideas?</h3>
<p>This has happened before, such as when the federal government decided to make a big push for solar energy.</p>
<p>Immunotherapy, cancer biology&rsquo;s flavor of the month, is a legitimately&nbsp;<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2015/12/06/jimmy-carter-brain-cancer/" target="_blank">promising approach</a>, having spawned drugs that are already in use, as well as many medications and <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/01/12/personalized-cancer-vaccines/" target="_blank">therapeutic vaccines</a>&nbsp;moving through the R&amp;D pipeline.</p>
<p>And&nbsp;there are clear, specific questions to answer, such as why only <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/03/cancer-immunotherapy-neoantigens/" target="_blank">a small fraction</a> of cancer patients respond to existing immunotherapy drugs.</p>
<p>That will be one focus of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy: researchers will&nbsp;compare responders and nonresponders to see if they can improve the rates of lasting&nbsp;responses and extend the use of these immunotherapies&nbsp;to more types of cancer.</p>
<p>But there are legitimate questions about whether there&rsquo;s too much focus on immunotherapy to the&nbsp;exclusion of other good ideas that might be bubbling up, and&nbsp;whether the same researchers keep getting funding at the expense of young innovators who might have entirely different ideas. After all, virtually every game-changing cancer therapy has come from an iconoclast.</p>
<h3>Do we need new financial models for bringing drugs to market?</h3>
<p>The Parker Foundation will handle patents, royalties, and licensing of discoveries that emerge from the research it funds. That&rsquo;s billed as a way to speed promising compounds and vaccines into clinical trials and commercial development.</p>
<p>But university tech transfer offices already try to <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2015/12/21/harvard-faculty-scientific-research/" target="_blank">do just that</a>.</p>
<p>STAT has not found any cancer biologists who think those intellectual property issues &mdash; rather than a fundamental paucity of meaningful discoveries &mdash; is the holdup in launching new therapies.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/564a68a7112314a8008b5a0c-1185-889/screen shot 2013-11-05 at 10.59.15 am.png" alt="sean parker" data-mce-source="AP" /></p>
<h3>Can&nbsp;a billionaire with a vision jump-start&nbsp;research?</h3>
<p>Much of the new funding from private sources springs from a concern that federal agencies&nbsp;fund mostly cautious, incremental research, producing cool findings about basic cancer biology but not many drugs that make a meaningful difference to patients.&nbsp;We&rsquo;ll see if a more top-down approach works better than encouraging bright young researchers to follow their scientific muse.</p>
<p>One concern: If mostly big, established names get the billionaires&rsquo; money, younger scientists might get discouraged.&nbsp;Weinberg&rsquo;s best graduate student, for instance, just told him she is going to go to law school rather than continue in science, dismayed in part by the constant dialing for dollars required to land research grants.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The best and brightest are fleeing in droves,&rdquo; Weinberg said. &ldquo;People like Biden and Sean Parker should have stepped back and looked at long-term investments as well, specifically the type that will ensure that cancer research careers once again become attractive to students early in their careers.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em>Charles Piller contributed reporting.</em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/5-vital-questions-for-sean-parker-on-his-cancer-funding-2016-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bud-light-dilly-dilly-viral-commercial-super-bowl-campaign-2017-12">What 'Dilly Dilly' means — and how Bud Light came up with its viral campaign</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-napster-billionaire-sean-parker-just-invested-in-cancer-immunotherapy-2016-4Here's why Napster billionaire Sean Parker just invested $250 million in a new kind of cancer treatmenthttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-napster-billionaire-sean-parker-just-invested-in-cancer-immunotherapy-2016-4
Wed, 13 Apr 2016 12:53:00 -0400Lydia Ramsey
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/56c427282e526519008b7866-2065-1549/gettyimages-157769146.jpg" alt="sean parker" data-mce-source="Spencer Platt/Getty Images" /></p><p>Another big name has joined the research effort for a new kind of cancer treatment called immunotherapy, which uses the immune system to fight cancer cells. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Sean Parker, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-insane-life-of-facebook-billionaire-sean-parker-2015-7">internet billionaire</a> who co-founded Napster and is a former Facebook president, gave $250 million on Wednesday to launch&nbsp;the Parker Institute&nbsp;that will help with the&nbsp;research and development of cancer immunotherapy treatments.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Unlike <a href="http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/chemotherapy/whatitishowithelps/chemo-what-it-is-questions-about-chemo">chemotherapy</a>, which involves administering powerful drugs that kill both cancerous and healthy cells (most healthy cells can repair themselves), immunotherapies harness the power of the immune system to help it identify and knock out just the cancerous cells.</p>
<p>For example, using&nbsp;something called&nbsp;a PD-1 inhibitor &mdash; which goes after a type of protein called PD-1 that stops the immune system from fighting cancerous cells &mdash; immunotherapy effectively helps the immune system take its foot off the brakes. Others, like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-lung-cancer-vaccine-from-cuba-2015-5">cancer vaccines</a>, activate&nbsp;the immune system in other ways, pushing it to work harder against cancer cells.</p>
<h2>Cancer in the crosshairs</h2>
<p>In&nbsp;the past few months, many big names have started piling on initiatives with a particular focus in accelerating research in cancer immunotherapy.</p>
<p>For example,&nbsp;<strong>Vice President&nbsp;Joe Biden&nbsp;</strong>and the Obama administration have asked for a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-cancer-moonshot-is-misinformed-2016-1">$1 billion initiative</a> for a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-cancer-moonshot-is-misinformed-2016-1">"cancer moonshot"</a> which will in part focus on immunotherapy. <strong>Former New York mayor&nbsp;Michael Bloomberg&nbsp;</strong>and others <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-bloomberg-others-give-125-mln-for-immunotherapy-cancer-research-2016-3">pledged $125 million</a>&nbsp;to create a new immuno-oncology focused cancer institute at Johns Hopkins. And&nbsp;<strong>Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong,</strong>&nbsp;the CEO of NantWorks,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>set up a <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/01/14/cancer-moonshot-biden-soon-shiong/">Cancer MoonShot2020 coalition</a> that aims to bring together all the people developing immunotherapies&nbsp;to bridge research gaps. Pharmaceutical companies also have many types of these treatments already in clinical trials, and<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cancer-treatment-as-investment-2015-11">investors expect</a><span>&nbsp;many of them will&nbsp;generate billions in sales in the next couple of years.</span></p>
<p>Immunotherapy for cancer isn't particularly new,&nbsp;so why all the recent&nbsp;attention and investments?</p>
<p>Essentially, it comes down to the fact that&nbsp;we're finally getting to see the results.&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/">The Cancer Research Institute</a> (CRI), which has been exploring cancer immunotherapy since the 1950s, is one of the many partners that will be working with the Parker Institute.</p>
<p>"It&rsquo;s when you see the successes and durable responses," <a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/">Cancer Research Institute</a> CEO Jill O&rsquo;Donnell-Tormey told Business Insider. One clear example of this is former president Jimmy Carter, who has been <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-cancer-treatment-did-jimmy-carter-use-2016-3">cancer-free since December 2015</a>&nbsp;after having his&nbsp;melanoma treated in part with an immunotherapy called Keytruda.</p>
<p>While the&nbsp;results are promising, they&nbsp;still aren't perfect. Some recently approved drugs, take Keytruda, for example, only work about <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-cancer-treatment-did-jimmy-carter-use-2016-3">30% of the time</a>.&nbsp;<span>That's still better than the </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2737459/">average response rate</a><span> of chemotherapy treatments on their own in cases of metastatic melanoma.</span>&nbsp;Still,&nbsp;when they do work, these treatments appear&nbsp;able to ward off cancer longer than other other existing treatments like chemotherapy.</p>
<h2>What's&nbsp;within reach?</h2>
<p>CRI CEO O&rsquo;Donnell-Tormey said that right now, cancer immunotherapy researchers need to&nbsp;find&nbsp;specific antigens, or toxins that illicit a response by the immune system, to target. This will help ensure the immunotherapy works in every single person. And although immunotherapy has come along way in the past few years, it's still far from having cracked the code.</p>
<p>"It requires a lot of money, and there&nbsp;are&nbsp;no guarantees," said O&rsquo;Donnell-Tormey. "Many times we&rsquo;re funding only 10% of the research grants that come in."</p>
<p>Plus, it's hard to predict what will work and when it will work, so saying a certain amount of money will surely lead to a solution doesn't exactly cut it. &nbsp;"We&nbsp;can&rsquo;t say what the actual amount is that you really need to do it."</p>
<p>But in the meantime, having the momentum certainly doesn't hurt.</p><p><strong>RELATED:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-cancer-treatment-did-jimmy-carter-use-2016-3" >Jimmy Carter is no longer being treated for cancer — Here's why treatments like the one he used are suddenly gaining traction</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-biosimilars-mean-for-the-pharmaceutical-industry-2016-4" >New drugs that could save the US billions just got an approval that will change the face of Big Pharma</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-napster-billionaire-sean-parker-just-invested-in-cancer-immunotherapy-2016-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-launch-tesla-roadster-mars-spacex-falcon-heavy-2018-2">Watch SpaceX launch a Tesla Roadster to Mars on the Falcon Heavy rocket — and why it matters</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-movies-streaming-spielberg-jj-abrams-netflix-screening-room-2016-3Why Sean Parker’s plan to stream movies still in theaters for $50 could workhttp://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-movies-streaming-spielberg-jj-abrams-netflix-screening-room-2016-3
Wed, 16 Mar 2016 11:15:03 -0400Graham Flanagan
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<p>Billionaire Sean Parker made his name by forever disrupting the music industry with Napster. Now he's aiming for the movie business. He's<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-streaming-rental-startup-the-screening-room-2016-3" target="_blank"> currently shopping</a> his latest venture: The Screening Room, and he already has the <a href="http://variety.com/2016/film/news/steven-spielberg-j-j-abrams-peter-jackson-sean-parker-screening-room-1201728374/" target="_blank">support</a> of many titans of the movie business such as Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams.<br><br>The Screening Room would allow first-run movies playing in theaters to be streamed to a set-top box in your home. Each movie rental would cost $50. While the idea is already getting some <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-theater-owner-calls-billionaire-sean-parkers-50-home-movie-plan-half-baked-2016-3" target="_blank">pushback</a> from some theater owners and studios, it's easy to see the product's potential upside.<br><br><em>Produced by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/graham-flanagan" target="_blank">Graham Flanagan</a><br><br></em><strong>Follow BI Video:</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/BI_Video" target="_blank">On Twitter</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-movies-streaming-spielberg-jj-abrams-netflix-screening-room-2016-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-insane-life-of-sean-parker-napster-facebook-2015-8Inside the insane life of Facebook billionaire Sean Parkerhttp://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-insane-life-of-sean-parker-napster-facebook-2015-8
Fri, 21 Aug 2015 09:47:00 -0400Eames Yates and Madeline Stone
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">From cofounding Napster to becoming the founding president of Facebook at age 24, Sean Parker has had an incredible life. </span></p>
<p><em>Produced by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/eames-yates">Eames Yates</a>. Original reporting by Madeline Stone.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/jeremy-bender"><br></a></em></p>
<p><strong>Follow BI Video:</strong> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video" target="_blank">On Facebook</a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/weirdest-phrases-used-military-2015-7#ixzz3iX5LchXc"><br></a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-insane-life-of-sean-parker-napster-facebook-2015-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-donates-600-million-foundation-2015-6Facebook billionaire Sean Parker has donated $600 million to start his own foundationhttp://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-donates-600-million-foundation-2015-6
Wed, 24 Jun 2015 12:44:54 -0400Madeline Stone
<p><span><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/558ad992ecad04626657802a-1200-2000/gettyimages-139585615.jpg" border="0" alt="sean parker"></span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-plaxo-and-sean-parker-changed-facebook-2015-2">Sean Parker</a>, cofounder of Napster and former president of Facebook, has announced a gift of $600 million to launch <a href="http://parker.org/">the Parker Foundation.<span>&nbsp;</span></a></p>
<p>The foundation will focus on funding programs in three main categories: life sciences, global public health, and civic engagement.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"In the increasingly complex and interconnected world we live in, the problems we’re confronted with are systemic ones, and they call for systemic answers," Parker said in a press release.</p>
<p>"In order to achieve scale and leverage, the philanthropists who take on these challenges will need to search for fresh answers to these problems and&nbsp;aggressively implement the solutions they discover."</p>
<p>Parker recently pledged $24 million to develop the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research at Stanford. He also donated $4.5 million to support a malaria elimination program at the University of California San Francisco’s Global Health Group.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"The&nbsp;Parker Foundation will apply the lessons learned from Silicon Valley start-ups to our philanthropic initiatives: we must move fast, make concentrated bets based on our convictions, have the courage to make mistakes and learn from them," Parker said in the press release announcing the launch of the foundation.&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/sean-parker/">Forbes estimates</a> Parker's net worth to be about $2.9 billion.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-is-building-an-app-as-part-of-his-crazy-wedding-settlement-2014-10" >Facebook billionaire Sean Parker is building an app as part of his $2.5 million wedding settlement</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-donates-600-million-foundation-2015-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-relationship-breakup-study-2015-6">Here's what most people do on Facebook when they break up</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-secret-history-of-the-first-music-site-on-the-web-2014-12The Secret History Of The First Music Site On The Webhttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-secret-history-of-the-first-music-site-on-the-web-2014-12
Thu, 11 Dec 2014 20:21:34 -0500Matt Rosoff
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/548a41a869bedd72192dfd9d-600-/iuma.png" border="0" alt="IUMA" width="600"></p><p>Years before Napster, MySpace, and SoundCloud, there was another place on the web where independent musicians uploaded their music for all to hear.</p>
<p>It was called the Internet Underground Music Archive, or IUMA, and it was kind of a big deal in musician circles in the early 1990s, especially in Northern California. It was founded in Santa Cruz in 1993, before web browsers were even a mainstream thing and uploading a single song took forever.</p>
<p>Writer Caleb Garling <a href="https://medium.com/backchannel/how-digital-music-missed-its-big-chance-fab931566042">went back and interviewed one of the founders</a>, Jeff Patterson, and talked to some of the musicians who used the early service. There were some successes, like punk-ska band Sublime, which used the action it was getting on IUMA to get a label deal.</p>
<p>But it's a bittersweet story because the technology was so far ahead of its time — with much faster download speeds available today, Soundcloud gets more than 12 hours of new music posted every single minute.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But back then, not enough people were willing to suffer through slow upload and download times to share their music. Then, as Napster took off, the business case for IUMA disappeared — nobody wanted to invest in a company that made it so easy to share music. It limped along for a few years, got sold twice, and finally shut down for good in 2006.</p>
<p>It's a great story of the early days of the Internet, and a reminder that new startup ideas rely as much on timing and luck as on vision.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/backchannel/how-digital-music-missed-its-big-chance-fab931566042">Read the whole story here&gt;&gt;</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-secret-history-of-the-first-music-site-on-the-web-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/what-it-was-like-to-work-at-the-original-napster-2014-10What It Was Like To Work At The Original Napsterhttp://www.businessinsider.com/what-it-was-like-to-work-at-the-original-napster-2014-10
Tue, 28 Oct 2014 14:34:00 -0400Ali Aydar
<p><em><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5447d81669bedd8e6c758aa6-1200-1000/rtxkajd.jpg" border="0" alt="Napster founder Shawn Fanning"><a href="http://www.quora.com/What-was-it-like-to-work-at-the-old-Napster" target="_blank">What was it like to work at the old Napster?</a>&nbsp;appeared as a question on Quora.&nbsp;Below we are republishing an answer from<a href="http://www.quora.com/Ali-Aydar" target="_blank"> Ali Aydar</a>, who was the first non-founding employee of Napster.</em><span><br></span></p>
<p><span>There were three distinct phases of Napster and working there was different in each one.</span></p>
<h3>Phase 1:&nbsp;Pre-investment from Hummer Winblad&nbsp;(before Q1 2000):&nbsp;</h3>
<p><span>At this point we were a small team, made up mostly of engineers.&nbsp; Our CEO was an energetic former VC named Eileen Richardson, who was primarily working on raising money.&nbsp; A successful money raise was predicated on growth of the service.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>At the time I joined in September 1999, there were only 40,000 registered users and only a few hundred connected simultaneously at any given time.&nbsp; There were concerns about whether or not we'd be able to scale given the available technologies in 1999.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>Our only focus as an engineering team during this phase was scalability of the backend systems to support potentially millions of simultaneously connected users.&nbsp; This was no easy feat in 1999, but our corporate culture led us to completely exceed anybody's expectations.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5447d177ecad04c27b8b456b-1200-858/rtr6okv.jpg" border="0" alt="napster">We were all very young at the time and very excited about what Napster could become, so we worked our tails off and had a total blast.&nbsp; And it wasn't just the engineers, it was the business side too.&nbsp; I remember that our first company meeting after I joined started at 11pm and went until around 2am.&nbsp; We had one room in our office with all of us youngsters, which included myself, Jordan Ritter,&nbsp;</span><span class="qlink_container"><a href="http://www.quora.com/Shawn-Fanning" target="_blank">Shawn Fanning</a></span><span>, and&nbsp;</span><span class="qlink_container"><a href="http://www.quora.com/Sean-Parker" target="_blank">Sean Parker</a></span><span>.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>We were joined a couple months later by&nbsp;</span><span class="qlink_container"><a href="http://www.quora.com/Jordan-Mendelson" target="_blank">Jordan Mendelson</a></span><span>.&nbsp; We were there at all hours of the day and night, sometimes sleeping under our desks as we tried to keep the servers up.&nbsp; To keep ourselves awake during marathon coding sessions, rap or cheesy hip-hop music would blare through Jordan Ritter's speakers.&nbsp; We even had cases of Red Bull, which had only recently launched, delivered directly to our office.&nbsp; It was absolutely the best time in the entire Napster experience.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>Everybody was excited about the future, happy about what they were working on, and free from any corporate or legal constraints.&nbsp; The intrinsic value of what were doing was so high that we would have all probably worked for free.&nbsp; It's no wonder that we were able to overcome significant technical challenges to build a scalable service.&nbsp; As I've grown and matured as a manager and now a CEO, I've come to understand that the right corporate culture is critical in creating an environment that incites the creativity necessary to achieve disruptive innovation.&nbsp; That's what we had at this time, and it was nothing short of awesome.</span></p>
<h3>Phase 2:&nbsp;Post Hummer Winblad investment until service shutdown&nbsp;(Q1 2000 to Q2 2001):&nbsp;</h3>
<p><span>The lawsuit from the major labels was filed in December 1999.&nbsp; Things really didn't change that much when the lawsuit was filed because as engineers we were still focused on scaling and as a business we were still focused on raising money.&nbsp; Of course raising money was a bit more challenging with a lawsuit hanging over us, but there was still a significant amount of interest and we ultimately closed a round with Hummer Winblad.&nbsp; Hummer immediately installed one of their partners,&nbsp;</span><span class="qlink_container"><a href="http://www.quora.com/Hank-Barry" target="_blank">Hank Barry</a></span><span>, as the CEO.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>At that point we moved into this phase of Napster's existence.&nbsp; Hank (and John Hummer, who took a board seat) was completely focused on resolving the lawsuit.&nbsp; Hank brought in others to help manage the day-to-day aspects of managing the company while he worked with the labels to try to resolve the dispute.&nbsp; For all of us internally, there wasn't much we could do.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>Product changes were minimal to none -- purposely so as to not disrupt our legal efforts.&nbsp; We were in a wait and see mode.&nbsp; It was discouraging because we didn't know what was going to happen and we didn't know what to expect.&nbsp; Communication to the staff about progress of negotiations was minimal, mostly because discretion was perceived to be critical.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>We were continuing to grow organizationally, so it was exciting to be part of something that was getting bigger.&nbsp; And the service itself was scaling like crazy.&nbsp; At our peak we had over 70M registered users with 2.5M connected simultaneously at one point.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>The statistic that blew me away the most was that the average registered user connected to Napster once every other day (this is of course now completely blown out of the water by Facebook, but for the year 2000 this was astounding).&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>However, on the whole this phase was characterized by lots of ups and down.&nbsp; We didn't know what was going on with the lawsuit and there was a tremendous amount of uncertainty.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/18b9b9140ad23248f9a9be00-400-263/napster sad.jpg" border="0" alt="napster sad">The uncertainty led to total product stagnation, which for engineering and product management was very frustrating.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>A</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">t the same time, we were growing like gangbusters, so it was exciting.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>Then we got the court order to shutdown followed by a stay of the order two days later.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span> It was like going from total devastation to absolute jubilation.&nbsp; The emotional roller coaster was draining.&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Then during the stay we got the $60M investment from Bertelsmann, which at the time was the owner of one of the record labels suing us, so we really thought this whole thing was really going to work.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>But ultimately the court ruled that we needed to shutdown.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>I've later been told by multiple people that I had the dubious honor of shutting down all the server processes, though to be totally honest I have zero recollection of doing so.&nbsp; Repressed memories I guess.</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br></span></p>
<h3>Phase 3:&nbsp;The Bertelsmann Era&nbsp;(Q2 2001 to Q3 2002):&nbsp;</h3>
<p><span>After the Bertelsmann investment, Hank began looking for his replacement.&nbsp; Ultimately, Bertelsmann installed one of their own executives, Konrad Hilbers, as the CEO.&nbsp; This was the worst time at Napster, but it wasn't Konrad's fault.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>The truth is that Napster was over, but nobody was willing to admit it.&nbsp; It was like trying to get an old horse with tired legs to jump over a fence.&nbsp; And one of the legs was broken.&nbsp; And the fence was 1,000 feet high.&nbsp; It wasn't going to happen.&nbsp; Napster as we knew it was dead.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>The strategy was to try to build a legal Napster, something that works a lot like Spotify does today.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span>But the labels just weren't going to license a company named "Napster" in 2002 with subscription licenses.&nbsp; That didn't stop Konrad and Bertelsmann from trying.&nbsp; In this era the company was really split in two: the engineering and product side vs. the business side.&nbsp; The business side was telling the other side "just build the service and don't worry about the licenses, we'll get them, trust us."&nbsp;</span></p>
<blockquote class="pullquote">The truth is that Napster was over, but nobody was willing to admit it. It was like trying to get an old horse with tired legs to jump over a fence, and one of the legs was broken, and the fence was 1,000 feet high. It wasn't going to happen.</blockquote>
<p><span>The engineering and product side was saying, "Yeah, we'll build it, don't worry.&nbsp; But this sucks.&nbsp; This isn't really Napster."&nbsp; And we built it.&nbsp; I led the development of many of the systems that we built for the "legitimate Napster."&nbsp; And they were all ultimately ready to ship.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span><span>But there weren't many on the engineering side that thought this would work as a product.&nbsp; The world was used to the original Napster and we felt like they would hate this product.&nbsp;</span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It was an absolutely dreadful time trying to build a product that you didn't believe in, 180 degrees away from what the first phase of Napster was like.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">There was also mistrust between the two sides of the company.&nbsp; There was always skepticism from the business side about our ability to build the service, while there was similar skepticism from the engineering side about whether or not we would procure licenses.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>Ultimately we didn't get the licenses. But it really wasn't anybody's fault, the industry just wasn't ready for it.&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This was a dark time.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>The lesson for me here was that when your instincts tell you that it's over, you're probably right, so just call it like it is and move on.&nbsp; Doing so would have saved a whole lot of time, heartache, and money.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span><em><a href="http://www.quora.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Quora</a>&nbsp;is the best answer to any question. Ask a question, get a great answer. Learn from experts and get insider knowledge. You can follow Quora on&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Quora" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/quora" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://plus.google.com/111127313006403749982/posts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Google+</a>.</em><span><br></span></span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-it-was-like-to-work-at-the-original-napster-2014-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/police-officer-will-not-be-charged-in-killing-of-napster-executive-2014-8Police Officer Will Not Be Charged For Killing Napster Exec While Texting And Driving — Because It's Apparently OK For Police To Do Thathttp://www.businessinsider.com/police-officer-will-not-be-charged-in-killing-of-napster-executive-2014-8
Fri, 29 Aug 2014 05:59:00 -0400Jim Edwards
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/54004924ecad04ad1e34bd2c-800-800/260ad02.jpg" border="0" alt="Milton Olin"></p><p>Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy Andrew Wood will not be charged for fatally running over former Napster COO Milton Olin Jr. in his patrol car while the officer was typing a message into his computer.</p>
<p><a href="http://valleywag.gawker.com/la-sheriffs-deputy-who-killed-former-napster-exec-wont-1628033542">We first saw the news on Valleywag</a>, but there is <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20140827/in-calabasas-death-of-cyclist-milton-olin-no-charges-against-typing-deputy">good coverage in the Daily News</a> and <a href="http://laist.com/2014/08/27/da_wont_charge_deputy_who_hit_napst.php">LAist</a>.</p>
<p>The instance exposes the different way that law enforcement officials are treated versus civilians in cases where a person is killed because of texting while driving.</p>
<p>It's illegal to text and drive in California; the state has a specific law against it. Civilians caught doing it can expect to face charges. But a report from the Los Angeles District Attorney's office shows that the rules may be applied differently to cops.</p>
<p>The incident involving Olin and Wood happened in December 2013 in Calabasas, California. Olin, a key figure at the peer-to-peer music-sharing company that pioneered the online music download industry, was cycling in the bicycle lane when he was killed instantly by Wood's patrol car.</p>
<p>Wood <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20140827/in-calabasas-death-of-cyclist-milton-olin-no-charges-against-typing-deputy">drifted into the bicycle lane while typing a reply to a colleague who wanted to know whether any other officers were required to attend a fire</a> reported at a high school he had just left. He was trying to tell the other officer that no further backup was needed.</p>
<p><br>The <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/237940150/Official-document-Deputy-won-t-be-charged-in-death-of-Calabasas-bicyclist-Milton-Olin">Los Angeles District Attorney's report</a> into the incident says that even though it is illegal to text and drive, Wood was not negligent because police officers are expected to respond quickly to messages from colleagues:</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54004d7f69beddac30a12334-713-94/screen shot 2014-08-29 at 10.51.52 am.png" border="0" alt="LA County District Attorney"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Wood had also been texting his wife from his personal phone minutes before the crash, but those texts were not thought to have contributed to Wood's inattention while driving, the DA's office said.</span></p>
<p>In a statement taken at the scene, Wood claimed that Olin had veered into his lane. The DA reported that the opposite was true.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Deputy who killed ex-Napster COO will not be charged b/c he was answering work email <a href="http://t.co/cbtnJdtzxU">http://t.co/cbtnJdtzxU</a> <a href="http://t.co/ikk50MQmmD">pic.twitter.com/ikk50MQmmD</a></p>
— daniel (@cyclingreporter) <a href="https://twitter.com/cyclingreporter/statuses/505074333581328384">August 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p><br>Many of <a href="http://laist.com/2014/08/27/da_wont_charge_deputy_who_hit_napst.php">Los Angeles' cyclists are furious at the lack of charges,</a> according to the LAist. "To say biking advocates are unhappy with the DA's decision to not press charges is an understatement."</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.change.org/p/l-a-county-sheriff-s-department-district-attorney-prosecute-deputy-andrew-wood-for-texting-while-on-duty-and-causing-the-death-of-attorney-milton-olin-jr">a petition to prosecute Deputy Andrew Wood on Change.org</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/police-officer-will-not-be-charged-in-killing-of-napster-executive-2014-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/tour-sean-parkers-new-55-million-house-2014-7Step Inside Napster Cofounder Sean Parker's New $55 Million Mansionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/tour-sean-parkers-new-55-million-house-2014-7
Mon, 07 Jul 2014 13:56:00 -0400Rebecca Borison
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53badf1b6bb3f71c364b9954-800-537/the-main-house-is-13511-square-feet.jpg" border="0" alt="sean parker house" /></p><p>Napster cofounder Sean Parker <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/napster-sean-parker-just-bought-ellen-degeneres-house-for-55-million-2014-7">just paid a whopping $55 million</a> for Ellen DeGeneres' nine-bedroom Los Angeles mansion,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tmz.com/2014/07/07/ellen-degeneres-i-just-made-more-money-flipping-my-brand-new-mansion/" target="_blank">according to TMZ</a>.</p>
<p>DeGeneres <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2014/01/10/ellen-degeneres-brody-house-sold-architecture-best-house-los-angeles/">bought the house for $40 million</a> earlier this year, and while she didn't intend to flip it, Parker reportedly approached her with an offer and the deal was inked in just eight days, leaving DeGeneres with a nice $15 million profit.</p>
<p>While we couldn't get our hands on any pictures of the renovated house, we were able to put together a tour of the home, called The Brody House, pre-renovation. We can only imagine what it looks like now if this is what they were starting with.</p><h3>The house is located in the exclusive Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/53bac3266bb3f7e34c4b9955-400-300/the-house-is-located-in-the-exclusive-holmby-hills-neighborhood-of-los-angeles.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>The property was commissioned by philanthropists Sidney and Frances Lasker Brody in 1949.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53bac326ecad04842f53d885-400-300/the-property-was-commissioned-by-philanthropists-sidney-and-frances-lasker-brody-in-1949.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>It sits on 2.25 acres of land.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/53bac3266bb3f755514b9954-400-300/it-sits-on-225-acres-of-land.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tour-sean-parkers-new-55-million-house-2014-7#the-main-house-is-13511-square-feet-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/napster-sean-parker-just-bought-ellen-degeneres-house-for-55-million-2014-7Napster Cofounder Sean Parker Just Bought Ellen DeGeneres' House For $55 Millionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/napster-sean-parker-just-bought-ellen-degeneres-house-for-55-million-2014-7
Mon, 07 Jul 2014 10:51:00 -0400Paige Cooperstein and Rebecca Borison
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52d43ebeecad046704b245a4-800-400/ellen-degeneres-house-33.jpg" border="0" alt="Ellen Degeneres House 33" /></p><p></p>
<p>Napster cofounder Sean Parker just paid a whopping $55 million for Ellen DeGeneres' 9-bedroom Los Angeles mansion, <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2014/07/07/ellen-degeneres-i-just-made-more-money-flipping-my-brand-new-mansion/" target="_blank">according to TMZ</a>.</p>
<p>After only a few months in The Brody House &mdash; yep, the house has a name &mdash;&nbsp;DeGeneres decided to flip it for $15 million in profit. She reportedly did not intend to flip it, but Parker approached her last month with an offer, and the deal closed in eight days.</p>
<p>DeGeneres, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=5&amp;ved=0CEUQFjAE&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fellen-degeneres-buys-26-million-mansion-2013-5&amp;ei=n1XUUovQB_OssQS_x4HIDA&amp;usg=AFQjCNFwIMVFbDrCTumyC5jplOwnITYTgw&amp;bvm=bv.59026428,d.cWc" target="_blank">famous for her house-hopping</a> as much as her status as America's nicest funny woman, reportedly laid down $40 million for the house, which is located in the exclusive Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2014/01/10/ellen-degeneres-brody-house-sold-architecture-best-house-los-angeles/" target="_blank">according to TMZ</a>.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Sitting on 2.25 acres next to the Playboy Mansion, the property was commissioned by&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">philanthropists Sidney and Frances Lasker Brody in 1949. The home was impressive in its own right (TMZ calls it "the best house in L.A.), but its unnamed second owner</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;h</span>ad it renovated in 2010, ostensibly to flip it.</p>
<p><span>Designer Stephen Stone increased the size of the kitchen, turned the top floor into a second master suite with a study, updated the pool, and added a koi pond. But he did keep the landscaping intact along with some original parts of the house.</span></p>
<p><span>Unfortunately, we only have photos of what the home looked like pre-renovation, since it never officially hit the real estate market. But even so, they are pretty remarkable:</span></p>
<p><span><strong>Most of the renovations to the house took place indoors. The entryway and landscaping were left intact, only spruced up.</strong><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/52d4494aecad04ac1db245a3-800-400/ellen-degeneres-house-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Ellen Degeneres House 2" /></span></p>
<p><span><strong>The home still opens to a spacious living area and slatted stairs.</strong><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/52d449696da811b801c79b4c-800-400/ellen-degeneres-house-4.jpg" border="0" alt="Ellen Degeneres House 4" /></span></p>
<p><span><strong>The sprawling ficus, deemed too invasive, in the atrium was replaced with some rare palms.</strong><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52d4498d6da8113e01c79b49-800-400/ellen-degeneres-house-8.jpg" border="0" alt="Ellen Degeneres House 8" /></span></p>
<p><strong>All the bathroom fixtures were updated from this pre-renovation photo.</strong><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52d449d369beddd52bb245a3-800-400/ellen-degeneres-house-22.jpg" border="0" alt="Ellen Degeneres House 22" /></p>
<p><strong>Stone installed a new pool in the same space and style of the old one.</strong><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52d44a026da8110404c79b6f-800-400/ellen-degeneres-house-26.jpg" border="0" alt="Ellen Degeneres House 26" /></p>
<p><strong>The home comes with tennis courts that received a new fence in the renovations.</strong><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52d44a1deab8eaae79b245a0-800-400/ellen-degeneres-house-28.jpg" border="0" alt="Ellen Degeneres House 28" /></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/13-crazy-san-francisco-home-sales-2014-7" >13 Recent Home Sales That Show How Crazy San Francisco Real Estate Has Become</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/napster-sean-parker-just-bought-ellen-degeneres-house-for-55-million-2014-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-internet-and-tech-troublemakers-2013-6Technology's Biggest Troublemakershttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-internet-and-tech-troublemakers-2013-6
Sat, 29 Jun 2013 08:20:00 -0400Dylan Love and Steven Tweedie
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/51cdb945eab8ead06100000a-480-/shawn-fanning-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Shawn Fanning" width="480" /></p><p>The tech world has produced some brilliant people capable of harnessing computer technology for all kinds of purposes.</p>
<p>They create interesting products, further political interests, or just get bored and cause trouble.</p>
<p>Much to the chagrin of many a music executive, Shawn Fanning created Napster and caused the music industry to drastically change how it operates.</p>
<p>Anonymous, a loosely-associated group of pseudonymous computer hackers, successfully hacked targets like the Church of Scientology, Sarah Palin, and the CIA.</p>
<p>Even Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak raised his share of hell as a younger man. The era of the technological troublemaker hasn't just now arrived &ndash; it's been here the whole time.</p><h3>The Pirate Bay Founders: Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij started the popular peer-to-peer sharing site back in 2001, which quickly grew into one of the world's largest torrenting sites, allowing users to download and share both legal and copyrighted content. In 2010, both men were found guilty of facilitating the distribution of copyrighted material by a Swedish court.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/51cdaa7769bedd8857000002-400-300/the-pirate-bay-founders-gottfrid-svartholm-and-fredrik-neij-started-the-popular-peer-to-peer-sharing-site-back-in-2001-which-quickly-grew-into-one-of-the-worlds-largest-torrenting-sites-allowing-users-to-download-and-share-both-legal-and-copyrighted-content-in-2010-both-men-were-found-guilty-of-facilitating-the-distribution-of-copyrighted-material-by-a-swedish-court.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Julian Assange of WikiLeaks: The world's number one advocate for information equality, Assange has made a name for himself befriending whistleblowers and leakers. With the distribution platform of WikiLinks, Assange has published classified documents and government secrets, all while staying out of the hands of those after him.</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/51cdb1ececad04dd4f00000a-400-300/julian-assange-of-wikileaks-the-worlds-number-one-advocate-for-information-equality-assange-has-made-a-name-for-himself-befriending-whistleblowers-and-leakers-with-the-distribution-platform-of-wikilinks-assange-has-published-classified-documents-and-government-secrets-all-while-staying-out-of-the-hands-of-those-after-him.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Aaron Swartz of Reddit and numerous other projects: Before he passed away earlier this year, Swartz was arrested for breaking and entering on the MIT campus while downloading academic articles from JSTOR, a collection of academic articles.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/50f9b77f6bb3f79420000002-400-300/aaron-swartz-of-reddit-and-numerous-other-projects-before-he-passed-away-earlier-this-year-swartz-was-arrested-for-breaking-and-entering-on-the-mit-campus-while-downloading-academic-articles-from-jstor-a-collection-of-academic-articles.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-internet-and-tech-troublemakers-2013-6#bradley-manning-a-25-year-old-us-army-soldier-manning-gave-wikileaks-the-largest-collection-of-restricted-documents-the-world-has-seen-including-the-infamous-iraq-and-afghan-war-logs-though-he-has-many-supporters-manning-currently-faces-charges-that-include-aiding-the-enemy-he-has-pled-guilty-to-10-charges-and-manning-could-end-up-facing-life-in-prison-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/its-finally-here-sean-parkers-airtime-just-launched-2012-6IT'S FINALLY HERE: Sean Parker's Airtime Just Launchedhttp://www.businessinsider.com/its-finally-here-sean-parkers-airtime-just-launched-2012-6
Tue, 05 Jun 2012 11:05:00 -0400Matt Lynley
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4fce21156bb3f7cf79000033/airtime-400.jpg" border="0" alt="airtime 400" /></p><p>After years of waiting, Airtime, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/chatroulette" class="hidden_link">Chatroulette</a> of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook" class="hidden_link">Facebook</a>, has finally launched.</p>
<p>It's a Facebook-connected application that lets you start video chats with strangers that have common interests with you.</p>
<p>Airtime is the new startup from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/napster" class="hidden_link">Napster</a> co-founders <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/shawn-fanning" class="hidden_link">Shawn Fanning</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/sean-parker" class="hidden_link">Sean Parker</a>. Parker was also an early president of Facebook.</p>
<p>That ranges from music to movies and friends in common. It's really a lot like Chatroulette, but with a stronger sense of identity.</p>
<p>We took it for a spin. It seems like the novelty might wear off, but for the time being, it does seem really cool.</p><h3>Bam! Let's get started.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/4fce1a4d6bb3f75173000000-400-300/bam-lets-get-started.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>First you'll have to enable your microphone and webcam.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/4fce1a4eeab8ea813400000b-400-300/first-youll-have-to-enable-your-microphone-and-webcam.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>And then it's off to the races!</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4fce1a2fecad04d44d000012-400-300/and-then-its-off-to-the-races.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/its-finally-here-sean-parkers-airtime-just-launched-2012-6#you-can-start-video-chatting-with-anyone-thats-already-on-facebook-right-now-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/to-compete-with-spotify-rhapsody-just-bought-itself-more-customers-2012-1To Compete With Spotify, Rhapsody Just Bought Itself More Customershttp://www.businessinsider.com/to-compete-with-spotify-rhapsody-just-bought-itself-more-customers-2012-1
Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:58:37 -0500Kamaila Sanders
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/4d960c1e4bd7c80f1e310000/jon-irwin.jpg" border="0" alt="Jon Irwin" /></p><p><a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/rhapsody-3">Rhapsody</a>, one of the most popular music services with more than <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-this-tech-exec-and-why-did-he-just-shave-his-head-2011-12">1 million paying customers</a>, is beefing up its user base through its acquisition of <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/napster">Napster</a> in Europe.</p>
<p>Now that the acquisition has been finalized, current Napster users will be migrated to Rhapsody's infrastructure, while maintaining their playlists and other options. The change will begin in March.</p>
<p>Rhapsody says it plans to keep the Napster brand name in Germany and the UK since it is already very popular in those countries.</p>
<p>The acquisition will help Rhapsody compete with <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify">Spotify</a>, which has 2.5 million subscribers worldwide at last count. Spotify also has several million more people using its unpaid ad-supported streaming service.</p>
<p>The largest premium subscription site in the United States has acquired Napster International. The deal means Rhapsody will now have a presence in Germany and the United Kingdom.<span></span></p>
<p><span><strong>Don't Miss: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rhapsody-president-jon-irwin-interview-2011-10">How Rhapsody Plans To Get Millions Of Users Without Giving Away Free Music</a></strong><br /><br /><br /></span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/to-compete-with-spotify-rhapsody-just-bought-itself-more-customers-2012-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/napster-is-finally-dead-heres-a-look-back-at-what-happened-2011-10Napster Is Finally Dead -- Here's A Look Back At What It Once Meanthttp://www.businessinsider.com/napster-is-finally-dead-heres-a-look-back-at-what-happened-2011-10
Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:56:47 -0400Matt Rosoff
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/4de7cadb49e2aebd2a170000/napster.jpg" border="0" alt="Napster" /></p><p><a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/rhapsody-3">Rhapsody</a> announced yesterday that it's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rhapsody-tries-to-stop-the-spotify-juggernaut-2011-10">buying number-two paid subscription site Napster</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But it's really presiding over Napster's funeral.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-to-competitors-catch-us-if-you-can-2011-10">Janko Roettgers reports at GigaOm</a>, Napster's offices in LA and San Diego will close, and December 16 will be the last day of work for the company's 120 employees.</p>
<p>Rhapsody didn't pay any cash for the service, instead giving <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/best-buy">Best Buy</a> a minority stake in exchange for Napster's estimated 400,000 subscribers &mdash; which is way down from the 700,000+ that Napster had back when Best Buy bought it in 2008.</p>
<p>Saddest of all for nostalgic music fans of a certain age, the Napster headphone-wearing cat/devil head will be gone.</p>
<p>With all the buzz around <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify">Spotify</a> and the absolute dominance of <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/itunes">iTunes</a> since 2003, it's easy to forget that Napster was the first big name in digital music, and introduced computer users to the idea that they could listen to any song in the universe, any time, on demand. The only problem: the people who made that music wanted to be paid for it, and it took about a dozen years to figure out how that would work to all parties' satisfaction.</p>
<p>Here's a quick timeline looking back:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>June 1999: </strong>Napster is launched by Shawn and John Fanning. It's the first massive scale peer-to-peer network focused exclusively on sharing music &mdash; MP3 files, mostly.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>April 2000</strong>: Heavy metal band Metallica sues Napster for copyright infringement after finding a leaked song, "I Disappear," being distributed before it was officially released. Lars Ulrich testifies before the Senate later that summer, earning the perpetual scorn of music fans who don't want to pay for music.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>October 2000: </strong>A&amp;M and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26M_Records,_Inc._v._Napster,_Inc.">bunch of other imprints</a> of the four big record labels sue Napster for copyright infringement on Oct. 2. By now, the service is big enough for the court case to be featured <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998068,00.html">on the cover of Time Magazine</a>.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>February 2001: </strong>An appeals court decides mostly in the record labels' favor, and orders Napster to monitor the service and block access to copyrighted files. An injunction is ordered in March.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>June 2001: </strong>Napster shuts down its service to comply with the injunction.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>May 2002</strong>: Napster announces plans to sell its service to Bertelsmann, and files for bankruptcy in June. But a judge blocks the sale and orders Napster to liquidate in September 2002.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>September 2002</strong>: Roxio, a maker of digital music software, buys the Napster brand and logo for about $5 million.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>May 2003</strong>: Roxio buys Pressplay, a failing subscription music service started by major labels <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/sony">Sony</a> and Universal, for about $40 million in cash and stock, and relaunches it under the Napster brand name.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>August 2004: </strong>Roxio sells its software business to Sonic Solutions and changes its name to Napster, focusing exclusively on the digital music subscription business.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>September 2008</strong>: Best Buy buys Napster for a <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/best-buy-bails-out-failing-napster/">$121 million</a> ($54 million after accounting for Napster's cash). The company reportedly has about 700,000 subscribers.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>September 2011: </strong>Best Buy sells Napster's customers and intellectual property to Rhapsody in exchange for a minority stake in Rhapsody. The value of the transaction is not disclosed.</li>
</ul>
<p>RIP Napster, may you have a long afterlife <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/limewire-officially-dead-seeks-resurrection-2010-10">frolicking with LimeWire</a> in fields of free music.</p>
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<p><br /><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/napster-is-finally-dead-heres-a-look-back-at-what-happened-2011-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/rhapsody-tries-to-stop-the-spotify-juggernaut-2011-10Rhapsody Tries To Stop The Spotify Juggernauthttp://www.businessinsider.com/rhapsody-tries-to-stop-the-spotify-juggernaut-2011-10
Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:17:27 -0400Matt Rosoff
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/4d9607a24bd7c82f1d390000/rhapsody-president-jon-irwin-mural.jpg" border="0" alt="Rhapsody president Jon Irwin mural" /></p><p>The subscription music wars are heating up now that <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify">Spotify</a> is stateside.</p>
<p>Today, Rhapsody said it would buy <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/napster">Napster</a> from <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/best-buy">Best Buy</a> in a bid to increase its userbase.</p>
<p>Rhapsody claims 800,000 paying subscribers, making it the top paid music service in the U.S. A spokesperson calls Napster number two "by a big margin" and says that the deal will "substantially increase" Rhapsody's user base.</p>
<p>Napster was estimated to have about 700,000 subscribers when Best Buy bought it in 2008, but its numbers were declining fairly rapidly at that point.</p>
<p>The companies would not disclose financial details of the transaction, but Rhapsody is acquiring all of Napster's subscribers and IP, and in exchange Best Buy will take a minority stake in Rhapsody. The deal is expected to close by the end of November.</p>
<p>The deal will place even greater pressure on smaller competitors like Rdio and MOG, but it might not be enough to stop the Spotify juggernaut.</p>
<p>The service has only been available in the U.S. since mid-July, and CEO Daniel Ek recently said that it had added 400,000 paying users since that time, for a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-has-2-million-paid-subscribers-2011-9">total of 2 million subscribers</a> worldwide. Spotify was also featured prominently at Facebook's F8 conference a couple weeks ago, and has close ties with the huge social network &mdash; last week, for instance, Spotify began requiring all new subscribers to have a <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook">Facebook</a> address.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rhapsody-tries-to-stop-the-spotify-juggernaut-2011-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-tipped-5000-on-a-6000-bill-2011-10Sean Parker Tipped $5,000 On A $6,000 Billhttp://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-tipped-5000-on-a-6000-bill-2011-10
Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:21:30 -0400Dylan Love
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4e5f9e786bb3f78909000011-400-280/sean-parker.jpg" border="0" alt="sean parker" width="400" height="280" /></p><p><a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/sean-parker">Sean Parker</a> tipped a waitress $5,000, <a href="http://gawker.com/5846137/">reports Gawker</a>.</p>
<p>This was on a $6,000 bill at Beverly Club in West Hollywood, <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/ca">CA</a>, making for an impressive 83% tip.</p>
<p>It seems the <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook">Facebook</a> billionaire who started <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/napster">Napster</a> has no problem living large. And why should he?</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-tipped-5000-on-a-6000-bill-2011-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parkers-real-life-is-actually-more-impressive-than-the-myths-2011-9Sean Parker's Real Life Is Actually More Impressive Than The Mythshttp://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parkers-real-life-is-actually-more-impressive-than-the-myths-2011-9
Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:35:00 -0400Noah Davis
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4d3c4fb9ccd1d55b0d0e0000-399-300/sean-parker.jpg" border="0" alt="Sean Parker" width="399" height="300" /></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/forbes" class="hidden_link">Forbes</a> richest people issue includes <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tech-billionaires-2011-9" target="_blank">a host of tech folks</a>.</p>
<p>One of the newest members is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/sean-parker" class="hidden_link">Sean Parker</a>, the man who had a hand in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/napster" class="hidden_link">Napster</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook" class="hidden_link">Facebook</a>, and now <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify" class="hidden_link">Spotify</a>.</p>
<p>The stories about Parker are legendary.</p>
<p>The truth is just as impressive, if <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2011/09/21/sean-parker-agent-of-disruption/" target="_blank">Steven Bertoni's Forbes cover story about Parker</a> is to be believed.</p>
<p>It tells the tale of Parker, who rarely seems to sleep, never shows up on time, and has as maybe fiercely loyal supporters as he does enemies.</p>
<p>"Sean Parker is a human accelerant, an idea catalyst who, when combined with the right people, has fueled some of the most disruptive companies of the last two decades," Bertoni writes in the cover story.</p>
<p>Parker's admirers or current and former coworkers include a who's who of Silicon Valley: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/mark-zuckerberg" class="hidden_link">Mark Zuckerberg</a>, Mike Moritz, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/peter-thiel" class="hidden_link">Peter Thiel</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/reid-hoffman" class="hidden_link">Reid Hoffman</a>, and plenty of others.</p>
<p>"The Social Network" portrayed Parker as a loose cannon, one who couldn't stop partying and couldn't be trusted.</p>
<p>In the Forbes story, Parker doesn't dispute the hard-partying ways but he does take issue with the latter half of the profile.</p>
<p>&ldquo;But I do mind being depicted as an unethical, mercenary operator, because I do think there is something wrong with that," Parker tells Bertoni.</p>
<p>Our favorite anecdote shows what an intense schedule he keeps:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Over the last ten hours he&rsquo;s interviewed two potential VPs for his new video startup, answered hours&rsquo; worth of e-mails about the music platform he&rsquo;s backing, Spotify, and met with a potential CEO for his Facebook charity app, Causes. He&rsquo;s also booking bands and wrangling vendors for his &shy;engagement party, scheduled in New Jersey the same night Hurricane Irene looks to hammer the Northeast (with Lenny Kravitz grounded in North Carolina, he eventually subs in the Cold War Kids). He breaks from work to dine with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/jack-dorsey" class="hidden_link">Jack Dorsey</a>, the chief of Facebook rival <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/twitter" class="hidden_link">Twitter</a> and payment service <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/square" class="hidden_link">Square</a>. After dinner, at the restaurant bar, he interviews another potential boss for Causes. By the time he drops me off at my hotel, it&rsquo;s 11:30 p.m. Parker&rsquo;s day is about half done.</p>
<p>Parker spends six more hours sending emails.</p>
<p>Sometimes you don't need to make up the truth.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2011/09/21/sean-parker-agent-of-disruption/6/" target="_blank">Sean Parker: Agent Of Disruption - Forbes</a></strong></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parkers-real-life-is-actually-more-impressive-than-the-myths-2011-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>